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Fire lookout · Kent County, Rhode Island

Nooseneck Hill Fire Tower

Also known as Nooseneck Hill (West Greenwich)

A 60-foot International Derrick tower first built in 1933 in Wickaboxet State Forest, moved about 1950 behind the West Greenwich fire station; standing, not climbable, on the NHLR since 2005.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Stands behind the West Greenwich fire station on fire department property. Not fenced, but the 2016 register visit report says it should not be climbed.

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Not to be climbed, per the 2016 visit report on the register. The cab holds radio equipment and the fire station siren.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower60-foot International Derrick tower with a 7-by-7-foot metal cabThe design: IDECO
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
530 ft (162 m)
Agency
West Greenwich Fire Department
Land
Unknown
Location
Kent County, Rhode Island
Coordinates
41.61944, −71.64361 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ri-nooseneck-hill

View from the cab

What you see from the cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

Downloads about 3.5 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1933 BuiltOriginally constructed in the Wickaboxet State Forest. The register's summary box gives 1950 as the build year, which conflicts with its own description.Sources: nhlr.org, instagram.com
  2. No record between 1933 and 1950
  3. 1950 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  4. 1950 MovedMoved to the West Greenwich Fire Station, behind which it still stands.Sources: nhlr.org, instagram.com
  5. 1952 EventA battery-operated radio set was loaned to the West Greenwich Fire Company for the tower (1952-53 state report, as quoted by Forest Lookouts).Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1952 and 2005
  7. 2005 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterDate registered on the National Historic Lookout Register: June 2, 2005 (US 640, RI 2).Source: nhlr.org
  8. 2005 EventA restoration grant was presented to the owners, the West Greenwich fire department. The report gives the grant in the same passage that says the eastern regional conference was held in Rhode Island that summer, but does not say the grant was presented at the conference. The report does not say what work it covered.Source: firelookout.org
  9. 2016 Condition assessmentVisit report, November 20, 2016: needs paint, wood and stairs in poor shape, glass broken in some windows, should not be climbed; the cab holds radio equipment and the siren.Source: nhlr.org
  10. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Nooseneck Hill Fire Tower stands behind the West Greenwich fire station in Kent County, Rhode Island.1,2 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's list of former lookout sites marks it as standing.3 The National Historic Lookout Register describes it as a 60-foot International Derrick tower with a 7-by-7-foot metal cab, first built in 1933 in Wickaboxet State Forest.1 Around 1950 it was moved to the fire station.1,2 The register's summary box, though, lists 1950 as the build year, so the page disagrees with itself on that point.1

The register says the tower has not been staffed since before 1950.1 A 1952-53 state report, quoted on a lookout history site, mentions a battery-operated set loaned to the West Greenwich fire company for the tower.4

In 2005 a Forest Fire Lookout Association report said the eastern regional conference had been held in Rhode Island that summer. In the same passage it said a restoration grant had been presented to the tower's owners, the West Greenwich fire department, and that the tower was placed on the register.5 The register gives June 2, 2005 as the registration date.1 The report does not say what the grant paid for.5

A 2016 visit report on the register says the tower, though not fenced, should not be climbed.1 A visitor wrote that people at the station said the wood has not been replaced in at least 25 years.1 The cab now holds radio equipment, and the fire station's siren sits on a platform in the middle of the tower.1

In December 2024 the Forest Fire Lookout Association posted about the tower after the West Greenwich fire and rescue department shared a post showing the tower lit up and decorated behind the station.2 The register lists the West Greenwich Fire Department as its administrator, and the visit report says it should not be climbed.1

  1. Nooseneck Hill Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ri/nooseneck-hill-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Post by ffla_lookout, Forest Fire Lookout Association, Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/DDMbi51y2YA/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Former Fire Lookout Sites, Rhode Island list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ri/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Nooseneck Hill (West Greenwich), Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/nooseneck-hill.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Eastern Deputy Chairman's Report 2005, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-ed-2005.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Nooseneck Hill Fire Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Nooseneck Hill Fire Tower
Photo: Jack Kelley, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the location by 920 m.

    • NHLR: 41.61944, −71.64361
    • FFLA: 41.61488, −71.63439

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from NHLR.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: links easternuslookouts.weebly.com · No licence stated; facts only (county, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, status, height, design hints, register links). The site's own historical quotes, newspaper citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, visiting details, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.